2024 NFL Draft • Page 28

QB1

 

@EntryLevelTank

 

I am a fan of your scenarios that give Colts their pick of CB1 at 15

 

That's more of what I was referring to... Linderbaum was an elite mover to get to those second-level blocks, but he was undersized with short arms and not a ton of upper body strength (below average on the bench), but his explosion scores (vertical and broad jumps) and wrestling background showed that he generates his power and leverage from his legs.

Almost every single predraft profile on him made note that he's a zone-center:

Dane Brugler:

Brandon Thorne:

Granted, Linderbaum has shown he's just a damn good football player and he'd get by in any scheme, but his gifts are best suited for zone. Funny enough, the only article that I found from the draft that didn't mention him as a zone-fit was from the Ravens' former DoPP, Joe Hortiz (the Chargers' recent GM hire):

 

Yeah generally the media follows tropes that aren’t necessarily always true inside the minds of professional organizations.

I think Linderbaum’s short arms hurt his draft stock everywhere, but I legitimately think some of the things he lacks are hidden in a power oriented scheme when his goal is much more often to simply move the guy in front of him. Also worth noting the Ravens drafted him for Greg Roman’s offense, before they fired him for Todd Monken - they were looking for power scheme guys.

I’m definitely wary of using bench press to measure absolutely anything. It’s part of the Combine so obviously teams look at and assess it, but being strong in the trenches has WAY more to do with technique and lower body strength than arm strength. A guy who can bench 36 reps is still gonna get bulldozed all day in the NFL if he plays too top heavy and tries to reach and rely on those arms too much. Also, bench press is physically harder to do for longer armed guys, because of the angle you have to lift, so it’s sometimes just misleading and isn’t even accurate about who’s functionally stronger.

 

Small armed guy = protect him with movement makes sense on paper, and it’s definitely true for offensive tackles who have to be able to reach and keep edge rushers wide.

But when you consider the assignments of guards and centers in zone schemes, it’s actually the opposite. In a power scheme, the IOL mostly just has to get under a guy for most of their running concepts, or pull to where the TE was and then surprise somebody who’s trying to set the edge, and get under them that way. That’s all footwork, strength, and burst, the more you can get him in close quarters the better. They want longer bodies for zone because blocking in space is different than road-grading. You have to cover WAY more ground and reach WAY more, but as long as you can get a hand on a guy it doesn’t have to be pretty, you can still disrupt his angle to the ball.

But you (and @CarpetElf) are right that Linderbaum has always been agile as fuck for his size and that helps him compensate for that.

 

Right on. The only reason I noted his bench is that short-armed guys typically have a big advantage on the bench and the longer-armed guys are at a disadvantage.

 

Fuck off

 

What round does Michael Pratt go? I keep seeing him in mocks to Denver in the 3rd.

 

3rd seems good.

 

Who is the RB, whose highlights I’m going to watch on YouTube and that’s how I know he’ll be good, that I’m going to fall in love with this year?

 

Estime is my guy rn. People are hyping up Laube but the FCS back I like the most might be Davis

 

You think he would be a good fit? I know you said Nix was but if they dont go QB in the 1st, they would have to wait til the 3rd since they dont have a 2nd rd pick.

 

Word, I’ve seen Estime get talked about as a guy the Eagles could go for if they let Swift walk. Might be a position I do a little homework on regardless of what the Eagles do in free agency.

 

Who is this?

 

excuse me?

 

Ricky Williams

 

Trey Benson

 

Oh lol yeah that was before I cared about football man!

 

I will not be shamed!

 

Texas RB Jonathon Brooks declares for the 2024 NFL Draft - Burnt Orange Nation

 

Is the RB class weak this year or does it have more to do with how RBs are looked at in the NFL?